The invention relates to a method for detecting impurities in a process for preparing
valproic acid,
sodium valproate or
magnesium valproate by
atom economy reaction, which comprises the following steps of: selecting a gas chromatograph with the model of Agilent 8890, and detecting
valproic acid prepared by
atom economy reaction and process impurities thereof by
gas chromatography; the detection conditions of the
gas chromatography are as follows: a
chromatographic column is DB-FFAP, and the specification is 0.32 mm * 60 m, 0.5 [mu] m; the carrier gas is
nitrogen; the
detector is an FID (
Flame Ionization Detector); the flow rate is 2ml / min; the sample
injection volume is 2 microliters; the temperature of a sample inlet is 220 DEG C; the
column temperature is 100 DEG C; in the heating procedure, the initial temperature is 100 DEG C and kept for 5 min, then the temperature is increased to 140 DEG C at the speed of 4 DEG C / min and kept for 5 min, and then the temperature is increased to 200 DEG C at the speed of 4 DEG C / min and kept for 15 min; the
operation time is 50 min; the temperature of a
detector is 220 DEG C; the method comprises the following steps of: injecting 2 microliters of
diluent dichloromethane, 2 microliters of reference solution and 2 microliters of
test solution into a gas chromatograph, and recording a chromatogram; a
test article is selected from a
valproic acid crude product prepared by
atom economy reaction; the impurities are selected from 2-propyl-4-pentenoic acid,
valeric acid, 2-methyl
valeric acid, 2-ethyl
valeric acid, methyl valproate, ethyl valproate or propyl valproate; the
solvent is a
solvent; according to the detection result of the
gas chromatography, the variety and the content of the process impurities in the valproic acid, the
sodium valproate or the
magnesium valproate are judged through a
control sample.